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May 11, 2018

The home grown Light Combat Aircraft (LCA) is set to be equipped with
Israeli super radars that will give it the combat edge to engage
multiple air and ground targets simultaneously. Israeli firm ELTA is
likely to shortly bag an order for a new set of AESA (Active
Electronically Scanned Array) radars for an air force order of 83 LCA Mk
1A jets.

The Israeli firm appears to have beat off competition
from French firm Thales for the contract that has been in the works
since 2016. Sources said that advanced negotiations are now on to
finalise the contract at the earliest for early delivery of the combat
enhanced jets to the Indian Air Force.

The ELTA radar is a
derivate of the EL/M-2052 Active Electronically Scanning Array (AESA)
that has also been equipped onboard the Jaguar DARIN III fighter jets of
the air force. It has been selected for the LCA program ahead of the
French Thales RBE2 radar derivative. Earlier, other suitors including
the Americans and Swedes dropped out of the competition.

The
integration of an AESA radar is a pre requisite to the air force order
that also mandates equipping the fighters with beyond visual range
missiles and an electronic warfare suite. The radars give much more
range and engagement potential to fighters, enabling them to engage
targets from a distance without getting detected. The AESA will give the
LCA an edge over fighter of a similar weight category that are
operating in the region with conventional radars.

The Jaguar
DARIN III is India’s first fighter jet to be equipped with AESA radars
with 58 of them being integrated currently onto the fleet. The deep
penetration fighter fleet got a big upgrade with the new radars,
significantly increasing the air force’s capability to carry out cross
border strikes.

AESA radars have replaced conventional systems
at the heart of all modern fighter aircraft – be it the Dassault Rafale
and Boeing F/A 18 other than fifth generation jets like the F 22 and F
35.